Control of search results with multipoint pinch gestures

ABSTRACT

A device displays a listing of items in an item data display area on a display. The device receives an indication of a pinch gesture from a touch-enabled screen and scales a facet of the item data to produce a scaled-facet listing responsive to the pinch gesture. The device scales by modifying a degree of a characteristic corresponding with a facet of the item data displayed in the scaled-data display area in an increasing amount responsive to the pinch-in gesture. The modifying further comprises producing a scaled-out listing implemented as an updated portion of item data having a temporal indicator that is later than an initial display of item data by an amount proportional to a magnitude of a pinch gesture characteristic corresponding to the pinch-in gesture. Finally, the device displays the scaled-facet listing as an updated set of item data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/340,367 filed on Dec. 29, 2011, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/197,668 filed on Aug. 3, 2011, thebenefit of priority of each of which is claimed hereby, and each ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the technical fields of search resultsdisplay and, in one example embodiment, the control of search resultswith multipoint pinch gestures.

BACKGROUND

Users of the World Wide Web may typically perform a significant numberof searches in pursuit of general information and online commerce. Suchsearches may be performed with search engines and network-based commercesystems. With the proliferation of websites for conveying a large volumeof information to users, a challenge may exist for users to readily andconcisely peruse the vast amount of information available in searchresults related to website navigation.

A user may desire to quickly assess the success of search results inmatching their needs and expectations for information. To accomplishthis assessment a user may desire to expand or contract an amount ofinformation and related details being displayed as a result of an onlinesearch. A user's being able to readily display more or fewer details initem listings may allow a more efficient way of determining a match ofparticular search results with the information desired or whether afurther search may be needed.

A convenient and easy to use interface with a client device may allowthe user to quickly elaborate or reduce the amount of detail andrefinement of display data, thus offering a quick way of perusing searchresults. A user may also desire to expand or contract the amount of databeing displayed for a particular aspect of the results in an itemlisting. For example, a user may want to examine older or newer reviewsof movies found in an online search for entertainment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a client device displaying search results,according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a search results control system, as may beused in an example embodiment;

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B are diagrammatic representations of a pinch-outand a pinch-in gesture respectively, according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A, and 6B are diagrammatic representations of a pinch-outgesture performed slowly and rapidly respectively, according to anexample embodiment;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B are diagrammatic representations of a pinch-ingesture performed slowly and rapidly respectively, according to anexample embodiment;

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B are diagrammatic representations of apinch-out gesture performed with a small magnitude gesture and a largemagnitude gesture respectively, according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 11A, 11B, 12A, and 12B are diagrammatic representations of apinch-in gesture performed with a small magnitude gesture and a largemagnitude gesture respectively, according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14A, and 14B are diagrammatic representations ofpinch-out gestures relating to two particular aspects of display datarespectively, according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 15A, 15B, 16A, and 16B are diagrammatic representations of apinch-out gesture and a pinch-in gesture relating to a particular facet,of a particular aspect of display data, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating a method to display a scaled-inlisting and a scaled-out listing of item data, according to an exampleembodiment:

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a method to display a scaled-inlisting and a scaled-out listing according to velocities and magnitudesof a pinch-out gesture and a pinch-in gesture respectively, according toan example embodiment:

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating a method to increase and decreasean amount of image data and metadata respectively, by replacing andelaborating on previous data, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart illustrating a method to use a pinch-out gestureand a pinch-in gesture relating to two particular aspects of displaydata to scale a listing of items, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating a method to scale a listing ofitems to produce a further scaled-in listing or a further scaled-outlisting corresponding to a further pinch-out gesture or a furtherpinch-in gesture respectively, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating a method to use a pinch-out gestureand a pinch-in gesture relating to a particular facet, of a particularaspect of display data to scale a listing of items, according to anexample embodiment; and

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem within which is a set of instructions, for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, that maybe executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of some example embodiments. It will be evident, however,to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details.

Environment

A device with a touch-enabled screen may be configured to accept auser's interaction with the touch screen to control display of theresults of online searches for information and ecommerce listings. Auser's interaction with a touch screen of the device with multipointpinch gestures may facilitate navigation through large volumes of data,generally, and in some embodiments, search results. Touch-enablednavigation with pinch gestures to elaborate or contract the results of agiven search may present a more definitive view of those results orpresent a better indication of the requirement for a further search bythe user.

FIG. 1 depicts a search results control system 100 embodied, forexample, as a mobile device 105, such as a cell phone, engaged in anonline commerce session as a client device. The search results controlsystem 100 may incorporate a touch-enabled screen 110 transparentlyoverlaying at least a portion of a display 118. The display 118 mayprovide images of a listing 120 of item data, for example, and the touchscreen 110 may facilitate user interaction with the listing 120 andcontrol of further search results through multipoint touch gestures(described below). The search results control system 100 may also beembodied as a personal data assistant, an electronic tablet, or anotebook computer (not shown), for example. The search results controlsystem 100 may further be embodied with a desktop (not shown), desksidecomputer system (not shown), or terminal (not shown), for example.

Contact with the touch-enabled screen 110 by a user may define a touchpoint. Touch points may be produced by finger tips (e.g., the tip of athumb or a forefinger) or by any implement capable of registeringcontact with the touch-enabled screen 110. Gestures may be considered asa movement of one or more touch points across the touch-enabled screen110 performed so as to register a control input to the mobile device105. Two-fingered gestures may be known as multipoint touch gestures ormultipoint gestures and may be produced by a transition of two fingersfrom a first position to a second position, for example. In one exampleembodiment of a multipoint gesture, the thumb and forefinger of a handare shown moving from a slightly open position 130 to a slightly closedposition 140.

Multipoint gestures may be pinch gestures which may be characterized bytwo touch points being moved in relative coordination with one another.For example, a pinch-in gesture may be characterized by a first touchpoint and a second touch point coming closer together and a pinch-outgesture may be characterized by the first touch point and the secondtouch point becoming further apart. By placing the tips of two or morefingers on the touch-enabled screen 110, a user of the mobile device 105may enter multipoint gestures which may be configured, for example, toimpart certain control input information to operations performed by themobile device 105.

In some embodiments, pinch gestures are used in a commerce context or ageneral information search situation. In other embodiments, pinchgestures may be used in an operating system context. In exampleembodiments, pinch gestures are used to trigger the generation offurther refined search result details through elaboration or lessrefined search result details through contraction. The elaboration andcontraction may be known as information scaling processes. A pinch-ingesture contracts (reduces elaboration) and a pinch-out gesture expandson (elaborates) search results through corresponding scaling process onsearch results. The pinch-in gesture and the pinch-out gesture may bethought of as controlling aspects of refinement in displayed data andmay control various different aspects of refinement of data according tothe orientation by which they are applied.

Product searches on e-commerce sites, such as eBay®, may produce itemlistings of products presented as an array or grid of detailed pictures,thumbnail pictures, or symbolic image data accompanied by a respectiveamount of text data describing the accompanying image data. Thepinch-out gesture may be used, for example, to focus on fewer thumbnailsor images but to have more metadata displayed per product item. Thepinch-out gesture may also produce a further refined thumbnail or moredetailed picture of the image data portion of a listing item at the sametime the further metadata is displayed. In contrast, the pinch-ingesture may be used to produce a display of more thumbnails with eachthumbnail having less metadata information displayed. Correspondingly,the pinch-in gesture may also produce less refined thumbnails yetproduce more of them for a given abstraction level of display.Application of the pinch-in and pinch-out gestures with a varyingmagnitude and proportional speed may produce corresponding amounts ofcontraction and elaboration respectively of search results and listings.Additionally, multipoint pinch gestures may be used in combination withpanning and scrolling gestures to provide a complementary set of toolsfor a user to navigate various aspects and levels of abstraction insearch results.

The search results control system 100 may be embodied, for example, as atablet, deskside or desktop computer system with a touch-enabled screenoverlaying a display (not shown) that may provide similar capabilitiesto the mobile device 105 described above. The mobile device 105, thetablet computer system, the deskside computer system, or desktopcomputer system may, for example, also display results corresponding toa general search of the web with a search engine where the listing 120depicts an array of item data that may be navigated with multipointpinch gestures.

System

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram with data flow connections betweenmodules of the search results control system 100 according to an exampleembodiment. The control system 100 may include a processor 205, astorage module 210, and the display 118, each communicatively coupled toa bus 220. The control system 100 may also include a multipointtouch-sensitive module 225, and a scaling module 230, eachcommunicatively coupled to the bus 220.

The touch-enabled screen 110 may have touch point recognition andgesture determination facilitated by the multipoint touch-sensitivemodule 225 working in combination with the processor 205. The listing120 may be scaled by the scaling module 230 interacting with theprocessor 205, where the particular degree of scaling is determined byreceipt of controlling interactions with a user through multipointgestures input through the touch-enabled screen 110 (FIG. 1) andprocessed with the multipoint touch-sensitive module 225. Controlprogramming, that may be used to facilitate touch point recognition,gesture determination, and control of any of the modules describedherein, may be executed on the processor 205, and stored in the storagemodule 210.

Interfaces

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B are diagrammatic representations of pinch-outand pinch-in gestures respectively, according to one example embodiment.More particularly, FIG. 3A depicts an initial finger position just priorto a pinch-out gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-out gesturecommences with two fingers in a slightly open position 130 on thetouch-enabled screen 110 (corresponding to the mobile device 105 in FIG.1). The display 118 shows an image data region 315 and a metadata region320 corresponding to a listing of item data as may be presented after anonline search activity. The image data region 315 shows a stylized-levelof image data (e.g., stylized representation of book covers or booktitle pages) and correspondingly, the metadata region 320 shows aphrase-level abstraction of descriptive metadata corresponding to amidrange-level of abstraction (reference the LISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELSTABLE below) of the online search results.

FIG. 3B shows a slightly closed position 140 of the fingers at theconclusion of a pinch-out gesture. The pinch-out gesture consists of thetransition, for example, of the thumb and first finger from the slightlyopen position 130 (FIG. 3A) to the slightly closed position 140 on thetouch-enabled screen 110. As a result of the pinch-out gesture, theimage data region 315 shows a detailed-level abstraction of image data(elaborated or “scaled-in” from the stylized-level of image data in FIG.3A) and the metadata region 320 shows a sentence-level abstraction ofmetadata (scaled-in from the phrase-level abstraction of metadata inFIG. 3A) corresponding to a detailed-level of abstraction (referenceLISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELS TABLE below) of the online search results. Insome embodiments, the number of search results displayed as a result ofa pinch-out gesture may be less than the number of search resultsdepicted prior to the pinch-out gesture (e.g., the example embodiment ofFIG. 3A).

FIG. 4A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a pinch-ingesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-in gesture commences withtwo fingers in the slightly closed position 140 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The image data region 315 shows a stylized-level abstractionof image data (as in FIG. 3A) and correspondingly, the metadata region320 shows a phrase-level abstraction of metadata (as in FIG. 3A)corresponding to the midrange-level of abstraction of the online searchresults.

FIG. 4B shows the slightly open position 130 of the fingers at theconclusion of a pinch-in gesture. The pinch-in gesture consists of thetransition, for example, of the thumb and first finger from the slightlyclosed position 140 (FIG. 4A) to the slightly open position 130 on thetouch-enabled screen 110. As a result of the pinch-in gesture, the imagedata region 315 shows a characterized-level abstraction of image data(condensed from the stylized-level abstraction of image data in FIG. 4A)and the metadata region 320 shows a word-level abstraction of metadata(condensed from the phrase-level abstraction of metadata in FIG. 4A)corresponding to the brief-level of abstraction (reference LISTINGABSTRACTION LEVELS TABLE below) of the online search results.

As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the initial fingerposition and the finger position at the conclusion of the pinch gesturemay vary in the magnitude of separation. Yet, the same gesture may havebeen performed even though transitions from initial finger positions toconcluding finger positions may vary from one example embodiment toanother. The skilled artisan would further appreciate that therepresentation levels of the image data and the metadata may varyconsiderably from one level of abstraction to another due to informationscaling processes. Similarly, the skilled artisan would additionallyappreciate that application of pinch gestures to one abstraction levelmay cause a transition in the display of item data spanning more thanone listing abstraction level depending on a magnitude and a velocity ofthe application of the pinch gesture. For the purposes of the detaildescriptions herein, a delineation of gesture finger positions andabstraction levels of exemplary listing metadata are presented in thetables below.

Tables

GESTURE FINGER POSITIONS Finger Position: FIG. Element Example: closed510 slightly open 130 midrange 530 slightly closed 140 open 520

LISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELS of IMAGE DATA and METADATA Listing RelativeAbstraction Image Data Metadata Relative Pinch Level Level Level ScalingGesture Subject: Symbolic Heading Scaled-out Pinched-in Brief:Characterized Word — — Midrange: Stylized Phrase — — Detailed: DetailedSentence — — Elaborated: Photographic Paragraph Scaled-in Pinched- out

The LISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELS of IMAGE DATA and METADATA table abovedepicts successive levels of abstraction of listing data from mostcondensed (subject-level) to the most refined (elaborated-level). Thelevels of abstraction, the corresponding levels of image data andmetadata, as well as the number of levels, and naming conventionscorrespond to a particular example embodiment. Other listings of itemsmay vary in subject matter, number of levels of abstraction, andterminology. The intermediate abstraction levels, progressing fromsubject-level to elaborated-level, correspond to increasing refinementof image data and metadata. For example, progressing from thebrief-level of abstraction to the midrange-level, the metadataprogresses from a word-level (depictions in a word or a few selectwords) to a phrase-level (depictions in snippets or small portions ofsentences).

The subject-level of abstraction for listing data depicts asymbolic-level of abstraction of image data and a heading-level ofabstraction of metadata. Each of these respective representationsdepicts one of the least amounts of information in a relativelycondensed or truncated presentation of item data. For example,symbolic-level of abstraction of image data may be depicted with asimple symbol or line drawing of an outline of a book. The heading-levelof abstraction of metadata may be depicted by the title or a portion ofthe title of the book. In reference to a further condensed abstractionlevel (not shown) beyond the subject-level of abstraction, thesymbolic-level of image data and the heading-level of metadata may befurther condensed (in the further condensed abstraction level) to abullet point and simple subject (e.g., a simple representative word)respectively.

In the brief-level of abstraction, the characterized-level of image dataand the word-level of meta-data depict representations of item data onelevel more refined (detailed) than the respective representations at thesubject-level of abstraction. The characterized-level of image data maybe an artist's characterization of essential features of a more detailedreference image taken as an indicator of pertinent features, forexample. The word-level of meta-data may be a selection of a few wordsor key words that most characteristically capture the metadatacorresponding to the listing item.

The midrange-level of abstraction includes the stylized-level of imagedata and the phrase-level of metadata representation which depict itemdata one level further refined than the respective representations atthe brief-level of abstraction. The stylized-level of image data may becomposed of images implemented with artistic forms and conventions tocreate appropriate effects for a compact representation of image data.The phrase-level of meta-data may be a select phrase that most conciselycaptures the metadata corresponding to the listing item.

In the detailed-level of abstraction the image data and metadatarepresentations of item data are depicted at the detailed-level and thesentence-level respectively. The detailed-level of image data may bedepicted as thumbnail images or condensed representations of aphotographic image. The sentence-level of metadata may be a selection ofsentences representative of a more elaborate textual description oflisting items.

At the elaborated-level of abstraction, image data is depicted at aphotographic level (visual data with refinement corresponding to apicture or photograph) and the associated metadata may include completeparagraphs of textual description. The elaborated-level of abstractionrepresents the most complete and most highly refined representation ofimage data and metadata corresponding to, for example, the listing itemsdisplayed resulting from a search or query.

FIGS. 5-8 detail velocity-related pinch gesture characteristics and theensuing item listing results. For instance, the speed of a gesturedetermines the degree of scaling (elaboration/contraction) of listingresults. A faster pinch velocity for the same range (magnitude) of apinch gesture produces greater scaling of results compared to a slowerspeed pinch gesture.

FIG. 5A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a low velocitypinch-out gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-out gesturecommences with two fingers in a closed position 510 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The image data region 315 shows a stylized-level abstractionof image data (as in FIG. 3A) and correspondingly, the metadata region320 shows a phrase-level abstraction of metadata corresponding to themidrange-level of abstraction of item listings for online searchresults.

FIG. 5B shows an open position 520 of the fingers at the conclusion ofthe low velocity pinch-out gesture. The low velocity pinch-out gestureconsists of a low velocity transition, for example, of the thumb andfirst finger from the closed position 510 (FIG. 5A) through the slightlyopen position 130, a midrange position 530, and the slightly closedposition 140, to the open position 520 on the touch-enabled screen 110in a certain period of time. As a result of the low velocity pinch-outgesture, the image data region 315 shows a detailed-level abstraction ofimage data (elaborated from the stylized-level abstraction of image datain FIG. 5A) and the metadata region 320 shows a sentence-levelabstraction of metadata (elaborated from the phrase-level abstraction ofmetadata in FIG. 5A) corresponding to the detailed-level of abstractionof online search results.

FIG. 6A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a high velocitypinch-out gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-out gesturecommences with two fingers in the closed position 510 on thetouch-enabled screen 110. The image data region 315 shows astylized-level abstraction of image data (as in FIG. 5A) andcorrespondingly, the metadata region 320 shows a phrase-levelabstraction of metadata corresponding to the midrange-level ofabstraction of online search results.

FIG. 6B shows the open position 520 of the fingers at the conclusion ofthe high velocity pinch-out gesture. The high velocity pinch-out gestureconsists of the high velocity transition, for example, of the thumb andfirst finger from the closed position 510 (FIG. 6A), through themidrange position 530, to the open position 520 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The transition takes place, for example, in a period of timeless than the transition of the fingers from the closed position 510 tothe midrange position 530 as transpiring in the transition of FIGS.5A-5B. In some embodiments, the time for a high velocity pinch-outgesture may be on the order of half of the amount of time for the lowvelocity pinch-out gesture. As a result of the high velocity pinch-outgesture, the image data region 315 shows a photographic-levelabstraction of image data (elaborated from the stylized-levelabstraction of image data in FIG. 6A) and the metadata region 320 showsa paragraph-level abstraction of metadata (elaborated from thephrase-level abstraction of metadata in FIG. 6A) corresponding to theelaborated-level of abstraction (reference LISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELSTABLE above) of online search results.

FIG. 7A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a low velocitypinch-in gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-in gesturecommences with two fingers in an open position 520 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The image data region 315 shows a stylized-level abstractionof image data (as in FIG. 5A) and correspondingly, the metadata region320 shows a phrase-level abstraction of metadata corresponding to themidrange-level of abstraction of online search results.

FIG. 7B shows the closed position 510 of the fingers at the conclusionof the low velocity pinch-in gesture. The low velocity pinch-in gestureconsists of a low velocity transition, for example, of the thumb andfirst finger from the open position 520 (FIG. 7A) through the slightlyclosed position 140, the midrange position 530, and the slightly openposition 130, to the closed position 510 on the touch-enabled screen 110in a certain period of time. As a result of the low velocity pinch-ingesture, the image data region 315 shows a characterized-levelabstraction of image data (condensed from the stylized-level abstractionof image data in FIG. 7A) and the metadata region 320 shows a word-levelabstraction of metadata (condensed from the phrase-level abstraction ofmetadata in FIG. 7A) corresponding to the brief-level of abstraction ofonline search results.

FIG. 8A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a high velocitypinch-in gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-in gesturecommences with two fingers in the open position 520 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The image data region 315 shows a stylized-level abstractionof image data (as in FIG. 7A) and correspondingly, the metadata region320 shows a phrase-level abstraction of metadata corresponding to themidrange-level of abstraction of online search results.

FIG. 8B shows the closed position 510 of the fingers at the conclusionof the high velocity pinch-in gesture. The high velocity pinch-ingesture consists of the high velocity transition, for example, of thethumb and first finger from the open position 520 (FIG. 8A), through themidrange position 530, to the closed position 510 on the touch-enabledscreen 110. The transition takes place, for example, in a period of timeless than the transition of the fingers from the open position 520 tothe midrange position 530 as transpiring in the transition of FIGS.7A-7B. In some embodiments, the time for a high velocity pinch-ingesture may be on the order of half of the amount of time for the lowvelocity pinch-in gesture. As a result of the high velocity pinch-ingesture, the image data region 315 shows a symbolic-level abstraction ofimage data (condensed from the stylized-level abstraction of image datain FIG. 8A) and the metadata region 320 shows a heading-levelabstraction of metadata (condensed from the phrase-level abstraction ofmetadata in FIG. 8A) corresponding to the subject-level of abstraction(reference LISTING ABSTRACTION LEVELS TABLE above) of online searchresults.

FIGS. 9-12 detail magnitude-related pinch gesture characteristics andthe ensuing item listing results. For instance, the magnitude of agesture determines the degree of scaling (elaboration/contraction) oflisting results. A larger pinch range or magnitude for the same velocityof a pinch gesture produces greater scaling of results compared to asmaller range pinch gesture.

FIG. 9A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a smallmagnitude pinch-out gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-outgesture commences with two fingers in the slightly open position 130 onthe touch-enabled screen 110. The image data region 315 shows acharacterized-level abstraction of image data and correspondingly, themetadata region 320 shows a word-level abstraction of metadatacorresponding to the brief-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIG. 9B shows the slightly closed position 140 of the fingers at theconclusion of the small magnitude pinch-out gesture. The small magnitudepinch-out gesture consists of a small magnitude transition, for example,of the thumb and first finger from the slightly open position 130 (FIG.9A) to the slightly closed position 140 on the touch-enabled screen 110in a certain period of time. As a result of the small magnitudepinch-out gesture, the image data region 315 shows a detailed-levelabstraction of image data (elaborated from the characterized-levelabstraction of image data in FIG. 9A) and the metadata region 320 showsa sentence-level abstraction of metadata (elaborated from the word-levelabstraction of metadata in FIG. 9A) corresponding to the detailed-levelof abstraction of online search results.

FIG. 10A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a largemagnitude pinch-out gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-outgesture commences with two fingers in the closed position 510 on thetouch-enabled screen 110. The image data region 315 shows asymbolic-level abstraction of image data and correspondingly, themetadata region 320 shows a heading-level abstraction of metadatacorresponding to the subject-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIG. 10B shows the open position 520 of the fingers at the conclusion ofthe large magnitude pinch-out gesture. The large magnitude pinch-outgesture consists of the large magnitude transition, for example, of thethumb and first finger from the closed position 510 (FIG. 10A) to theopen position 520 on the touch-enabled screen 110. The transition takesplace, for example, in a period of time about the same as the transitionof the fingers from the slightly open position 130 to the slightlyclosed position 140 transpiring in the transition of FIGS. 9A-9B (i.e.,transpiring with about the same velocity). As a result of the largemagnitude pinch-out gesture, the image data region 315 shows aphotographic-level abstraction of image data (elaborated from thesymbolic-level abstraction of image data in FIG. 10A) and the metadataregion 320 shows a paragraph-level of abstraction of metadata(elaborated from the heading-level abstraction of metadata in FIG. 10A)corresponding to the subject-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIG. 11A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a smallmagnitude pinch-in gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-ingesture commences with two fingers in the slightly closed position 140on the touch-enabled screen 110. The image data region 315 shows adetailed-level abstraction of image data and correspondingly, themetadata region 320 shows a sentence-level abstraction of metadatacorresponding to the detailed-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIG. 11B shows the slightly open position 130 of the fingers at theconclusion of the small magnitude pinch-in gesture. The small magnitudepinch-in gesture consists of a small magnitude transition, for example,of the thumb and first finger from the slightly closed position 140(FIG. 11A) to the slightly open position 130 on the touch-enabled screen110 in a certain period of time. As a result of the small magnitudepinch-in gesture, the image data region 315 shows a characterized-levelabstraction of image data (condensed from the detailed-level abstractionof image data in FIG. 11A) and the metadata region 320 shows aword-level abstraction of metadata (condensed from the sentence-levelabstraction of metadata in FIG. 11A) corresponding to the brief-level ofabstraction of online search results.

FIG. 12A depicts an initial finger position just prior to a largemagnitude pinch-in gesture. This example embodiment of the pinch-ingesture commences with two fingers in the open position 520 on thetouch-enabled screen 110. The image data region 315 shows aphotographic-level abstraction of image data and correspondingly, themetadata region 320 shows a paragraph-level abstraction of metadatacorresponding to the elaborated-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIG. 12B shows the closed position 510 of the fingers at the conclusionof the large magnitude pinch-in gesture. The large magnitude pinch-ingesture consists of the large magnitude transition, for example, of thethumb and first finger from the open position 520 (FIG. 12A) to theclosed position 510 on the touch-enabled screen 110. The transitiontakes place, for example, in a period of time about the same as thetransition of the fingers from the slightly closed position 140 to theslightly open position 130 as transpiring in the transition of FIGS.11A-11B (i.e., transpiring with about the same velocity). As a result ofthe large magnitude pinch-in gesture, the image data region 315 shows asymbolic-level abstraction of image data (condensed from thephotographic-level abstraction of image data in FIG. 12A) and themetadata region 320 shows a heading-level abstraction of metadata(condensed from the paragraph-level abstraction of metadata in FIG. 12A)corresponding to the subject-level of abstraction of online searchresults.

FIGS. 13-16 depict pinch gestures producing display listings based on acertain portion of the display 118 and a certain aspect of listing dataassociated with the execution of the gestures.

FIG. 13A, for example, shows an indication of a single touch gesture1310 being applied directly above and corresponding to a particularaspect of the item data for the listing of items. The single touchgesture 1310 may be performed directly above the image data region 315which may show the characterized-level abstraction of image data.

In FIG. 13B, the pinch-out gesture is applied in the image data region315 subsequent to application of the single touch gesture 1310 there.The ensuing locations of application of the fingers to the touch-enabledscreen 110 in performing the pinch-out gesture, may transition along avertical dimension of the display 118 from the slightly open position130 to the open position 520 over the image data region 315. Thepinch-out gesture may result in an elaboration of the contents of theimage data region 315 and may correspondingly show a detailed-levelabstraction of image data elaborated from the characterized-levelabstraction of image data. In this example, the display of metadata inthe metadata region 320 is not altered by application of the pinch-outgesture in the image data region 315. The pinch-out gesture may beapplied within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of a vertical axisof the display 118 to be recognized as having been applied to aparticular display region.

By way of further example, the contents of the image data region 315 inFIG. 13A may be contracted in correspondence with the application of thepinch-in gesture (not shown) to the corresponding particular portion ofthe touch-enabled screen 110. Application of the pinch-in gesture on theimage data region 315 may cause the symbolic-level abstraction of imagedata to be produced in this region as a contraction of the initialcharacterized-level abstraction of image data. In this example, thedisplay of metadata in the metadata region 320 is not altered byapplication of the pinch-in gesture in the image data region 315. Thus,application of the pinch-out/in gestures to certain portions of thedisplay 118 may cause corresponding elaboration/contraction of imagedata contents of the image data region 315 only.

FIG. 14A, for example, shows a further indication of the single touchgesture 1310 directly above and corresponding to a further aspect of theitem data for the listing of items. The further indication of the singletouch gesture 1310 may be performed directly above the metadata region320 which may show the word-level abstraction of metadata.

In FIG. 14B, the pinch-out gesture is applied in the metadata region 320subsequent to application of the single touch gesture 1310 there. Theensuing locations of application of the fingers to the touch-enabledscreen 110 in performing the pinch-out gesture, may transition in avertical dimension of the display 118 from the slightly open position130 to the open position 520 over the metadata region 320. The pinch-outgesture may result in an elaboration of the contents of the metadataregion 320 and may correspondingly show the sentence-level abstractionof metadata elaborated from the word-level abstraction of metadata. Inthis example, the display of image data in the image data region 315 isnot altered by application of the pinch-out gesture in the metadataregion 320. The pinch-out gesture may be applied within a range offifteen to thirty degrees of the vertical axis of the display 118 to berecognized as having been applied to a particular display region.

By way of further example, the contents of the metadata region 320 inFIG. 14A may be contracted in correspondence with the application of thepinch-in gesture (not shown) to the corresponding particular portion ofthe touch-enabled screen 110. Application of the pinch-in gesture on themetadata region 320 may cause the heading-level abstraction of metadatato be produced in this region as a contraction of the initial word-levelabstraction of metadata. In this example, the display of image data inthe image data region 315 is not altered by application of the pinch-ingesture in the metadata region 320. Thus, application of thepinch-out/in gestures to certain portions of the display 118 may causecorresponding elaboration/contraction of metadata contents of themetadata region 320 only.

FIG. 15A, for example, shows an indication of the single touch gesture1310 being applied directly above and corresponding to a particularfacet of the particular aspect of the item data in the metadata region320. In particular, the single touch gesture 1310 may be applieddirectly above the facet of the aspect of item data corresponding to adate, for example, of the item data. The particular aspect of the itemdata may be the metadata and the particular facet of this aspect may bethe date of the metadata corresponding to the item data in the metadataregion 320.

In FIG. 15B, a subsequent application of the pinch-out gesture in themetadata region 320, where the ensuing locations of application of thefingers to the touch-enabled screen 110 may transition in a horizontaldimension of the display 118 from the slightly open position 130 to theopen position 520. The horizontal application of the pinch-out gesturemay result in an elaboration of the date facet of the metadata aspect ofthe item data. The metadata region 320 may correspondingly show afurther elaboration of the metadata spanning backward in time from aninitial temporal indicator to a prior temporal indicator within thesentence-level abstraction. For example, the initial temporal indicatormay be July 2009 and the prior temporal indicator may be May 2008subsequent to the horizontal application of the pinch-out gesture. Inthis example, the display of image data in the image data region 315 isnot altered by application of the pinch-out gesture in the metadataregion 320. The pinch-out gesture may be applied within a range offifteen to thirty degrees of a horizontal axis of the display 118.

FIG. 16A shows a further indication of the single touch gesture 1310,for example, directly above and corresponding to the same facet of thefurther aspect of the item data as in the above described situation inFIG. 15A.

In FIG. 16B, subsequent to application of the pinch-in gesture (asopposed to the pinch-out gesture in FIG. 15B) in the metadata region320, where the ensuing locations of application of the fingers to thetouch-enabled screen 110 may transition in about a horizontal dimensionof the display 118 from the open position 520 to the slightly openposition 130. Application of the pinch-in gesture may result in anelaboration of the date facet of the further aspect of the metadatacomplementary to that of FIG. 15B. Subsequent to application of thepinch-in gesture, the metadata region 320 may show a further elaborationof the metadata spanning forward in time from an initial temporalindicator to a later temporal indicator within the sentence-levelabstraction. For example, the initial temporal indicator may be July2009 and the later temporal indicator may be April 2011 subsequent tothe horizontal application of the pinch-in gesture. In this example, thedisplay of image data in the image data region 315 is not altered byapplication of the pinch-in gesture in the metadata region 320. Thepinch-in gesture may be applied within a range of fifteen to thirtydegrees of the horizontal axis of the display 118.

Example Methods

FIG. 17 depicts an example method of using a pinch-out and a pinch-ingesture (corresponding to FIGS. 3A,B and 4A,B respectively) to display ascaled-in listing and a scaled-out listing of item data 1700respectively on the display 118 of a device. The device may correspond,for example, to the mobile device 105 as described in FIG. 1 above. Themethod commences at operation 1710 with causing a listing of items andcorresponding item data to be displayed on the display 118 of thedevice. The item data includes, for each respective item, at least oneof image data, displayed in the image data region 315, and descriptivemetadata, displayed in the metadata region 320 of the display 118. Themethod continues with receiving 1720 an indication of a pinch-outgesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen 110.

In response to the indication of the pinch-out gesture, the methodproceeds with scaling 1730 the listing to produce a scaled-in listingincluding fewer of the listing items. The scaled-in listing alsoincludes an increased amount of image data and metadata for eachremaining listed item after the scaled-in process. In response to theproduction of the scaled-in listing, the method causes 1740 thescaled-in listing to be displayed on the display 118 of the device. Themethod progresses with receiving 1750 an indication of a pinch-ingesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen 110 on thedevice.

The method continues, in response to the indication of the pinch-ingesture, by scaling 1760 the listing to produce a scaled-out listingincluding more of the items, the scaled-out listing also including adecreased amount of image data and metadata for each listed item. Inresponse to the production of the scaled-out listing, that method causes1770 the scaled-out listing to be displayed on the display 118 of thedevice. The method may be performed by the display 118, the multipointtouch-sensitive module 225, the scaling module 235, the processor 205,and storage module 210, or any further components and modules describedherein.

FIG. 18 depicts an example method to display a scaled-in listing and ascaled-out listing according to velocities and magnitudes of a pinch-outgesture and a pinch-in gesture 1800 respectively. The method commences,where the indication 1810 of the pinch-out gesture includes a pinch-outvelocity, a pinch-out magnitude, and a pinch-out orientation being avelocity, a distance, and an angle respectively, according to which thedistance between the first touch point and the second touch pointincreases. The method continues with scaling 1820 the listing to producethe scaled-in listing at a rate corresponding to the pinch-out velocity(FIGS. 5A-B and 6A-B). The listing is scaled 1830 to produce thescaled-in listing by an amount corresponding to the pinch-out magnitude(FIGS. 9A-B and 10A-B), where each of the scaling processes may beindicated by a particular pinch-out orientation.

An indication 1840 of a pinch-in gesture includes a pinch-in velocity, apinch-in magnitude, and a pinch-in orientation being a velocity, adistance, and an angle respectively, according to which the distancebetween the first touch point and the second touch point decreases. Themethod proceeds by scaling 1850 the listing to produce the scaled-outlisting at a rate corresponding to the pinch-in velocity (FIGS. 7A-B and8A-B). The listing is scaled 1860 to produce the scaled-out listing byan amount corresponding to the pinch-in magnitude (FIGS. 11A-B and12A-B). Each of the scaling processes may be indicated at a particularpinch-in orientation. The method may be performed by the display 118,the multipoint touch-sensitive module 225, the scaling module 235, theprocessor 205, and storage module 210, or any further components andmodules described herein.

FIG. 19 depicts an example method to increase and decrease an amount ofimage data and metadata corresponding to an application of the pinch-outand the pinch-in gesture respectively (FIGS. 3A-B and 4A-Brespectively), by replacing and elaborating or condensing previous data1900. The method commences with increasing 1910 the amount of image dataduring application of the pinch-out gesture by replacing previous imagedata with at least one of a photograph, a thumbnail, a stylization, acharacterization, and a symbolic image data. The method continues withincreasing 1920 the amount of metadata during application of thepinch-out gesture by elaborating on at least one of a paragraph, aselection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, and aheading.

The method goes on with decreasing 1930 the amount of image data, duringapplication of the pinch-in gesture, by replacing previous image datawith at least one of a thumbnail, a stylization, a characterization,symbolic image data, and a bullet point. The method concludes withdecreasing 1940 the amount of metadata during application of thepinch-in gesture by replacing previous metadata with at least one of aselection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, aheading, and a subject. The method, for example, may be performed by thedisplay 118, the multipoint touch-sensitive module 225, the scalingmodule 235, the processor 205, and storage module 210, or any furthercomponents and modules described herein.

FIG. 20 depicts an example method which uses a pinch-out gesture and apinch-in gesture (corresponding to FIGS. 3A-B and 4A-B respectively)that relate to two particular aspects of display data to scale a listingof items 2000. The method commences with receiving 2010 an indication ofa further pinch-out gesture having been detected by the touch-enabledscreen 110 at a location on the display 118 directly above andcorresponding to a particular aspect of the item data in the listing ofitems. The touch points of the gesture may be applied in either theimage data region 315 or the metadata region 320 of the display 118. Atouch point gesture applied in the image data region 315 may performcorresponding scaling processes with regard to the image data aspect ofthe item data. Similarly, a touch point gesture applied in the metadataregion 320 may perform corresponding scaling processes with regard tothe image data aspect of the item data.

The method continues where, in response to the indication of the furtherpinch-out gesture, the listing is scaled 2020 to produce a furtherscaled-in listing including an increased amount of item datacorresponding to the particular aspect of the item data for eachremaining listed item. In response to the production of the furtherscaled-in listing, the further scaled-in listing is caused 2030 to bedisplayed on the display 118 of the device. The method proceeds byreceiving 2040 an indication of a further pinch-in gesture having beendetected by the touch-enabled screen 110 at the location on the display118 of the device directly above and corresponding to the particularaspect of the item data.

In response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, themethod concludes by scaling 2050 the listing to produce a furtherscaled-out listing including a decreased amount of item datacorresponding to the particular aspect of the item data for each listeditem. In response to the production of the further scaled-out listing,the method proceeds by causing 2060 the further scaled-out listing to bedisplayed on the display 118 of the device. The method may be performedby the display 118, the multipoint touch-sensitive module 225, thescaling module 235, the processor 205, and storage module 210, or anyfurther components and modules described herein.

FIG. 21 depicts an example method of scaling a listing of itemsaccording to a further pinch-out gesture and a further pinch-in gesture2100 respectively (corresponding to FIGS. 3A,B and 4A,B respectively).The method commences with receiving 2110 an indication of a single touch(FIGS. 13A, 14A) directly above and corresponding to the particularaspect of the item data for the listing of items produced on the display118 of the device. The single touch of either of the further gesturesmay be applied in either the image data region 315 or the metadataregion 320 of the display 118. A touch and associated touch pointgesture applied in the image data region 315 may perform correspondingscaling processes with regard to the image data aspect of the item data.Similarly, a single touch and associated touch point gesture applied inthe metadata region 320 may perform corresponding scaling processes withregard to the metadata aspect of the item data.

The method continues by further elaborating 2120 a particular aspect ofthe image data for each remaining listed item when the further pinch-outgesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the image data (FIG.13B) in the listing of items. The method continues by furtherelaborating 2130 a particular aspect of the metadata for each remaininglisted item when the further pinch-out gesture corresponds to theparticular aspect of the metadata (FIG. 14B) in the listing of items.The method then proceeds by causing 2140 one of further elaboratedparticular aspect of the image data and further elaborated particularaspect of the metadata to be displayed on the display 118 of the device.

The method proceeds by further decreasing 2150 a particular aspect ofthe image data for each remaining listed item when the further pinch-outgesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the image data in thelisting of items and further decreasing 2160 a particular aspect of themetadata for each remaining listed item when the further pinch-outgesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the metadata in thelisting of items. The method concludes by causing 2170 one of furtherdecreased particular aspect of the image data and further decreasedparticular aspect of the metadata to be displayed on the display 118 ofthe device. The method may be performed, for example, by the display118, the multipoint touch-sensitive module 225, the scaling module 235,the processor 205, and storage module 210, or any further components andmodules described herein.

FIG. 22 depicts an example method of using a pinch-out gesture and apinch-in gesture relating to a particular facet 2200 of a particularaspect of display data to scale a listing of items. The method commencesby receiving 2210 an indication of a single touch directly above andcorresponding to the particular aspect of the item data for the listingof items. The single touch may be produced directly over the metadataregion 320 (FIG. 15A), for example.

The method continues with receiving 2220 an indication of a furtherpinch-out gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen 110,the indication having a particular orientation and a particular locationon the display 118 directly above and corresponding to a particularaspect of the item data for the listing of items. The further pinch-outgesture may be produced directly over the metadata region 320 (FIG.15B), for example. A horizontal application of the pinch-out gesture mayresult in an elaboration of a date facet of the metadata aspect of theitem data. The metadata region 320 may correspondingly show a furtherelaboration of the metadata spanning backward in time from an initialtemporal indicator to a prior temporal indicator within thesentence-level abstraction. The pinch-out gesture may be applied withina range of fifteen to thirty degrees of a horizontal axis of the display118.

In response to the indication of the further pinch-out gesture, themethod scales 2230 the listing to produce a further scaled-in listingincluding a further amount of item data corresponding to a facet of theparticular aspect of the item data. For example, the initial temporalindicator may be July 2009 and the prior temporal indicator may be May2008 subsequent to the horizontal application of the pinch-out gesture.In response to the production of the further scaled-in listing, themethod causes 2240 the further scaled-in listing to be displayed on thedisplay 118 of the device.

The method proceeds by receiving 2250 an indication of a furtherpinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen 110,the indication having the particular orientation and the particularlocation on the display 118 directly above and corresponding to theparticular aspect of the item data for the listing of items. The furtherpinch-in gesture may be produced directly over the metadata region 320(FIG. 16B), for example. Note that the further pinch-in gesture may havebeen preceded by receiving 2210 an indication of a single touch directlyabove and corresponding to the particular aspect of the item data forthe listing of items. The single touch may be produced directly over themetadata region 320 (FIG. 16A), for example.

A horizontal application of the further pinch-in gesture may result inan elaboration of the date facet of the metadata aspect of the item datacomplementary to the horizontal application of the pinch-out gesture.Subsequent to application of the pinch-in gesture, the metadata region320 may show a further elaboration of the metadata spanning forward intime from an initial temporal indicator to a later temporal indicatorwithin the sentence-level abstraction. The pinch-in gesture may beapplied within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of the horizontalaxis of the display 118.

In response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, themethod scales 2260 the listing to produce a further scaled-out listingincluding a further amount of item data corresponding to the facet ofthe particular aspect of the item data for each listed item. Forexample, the initial temporal indicator may be July 2009 and the latertemporal indicator may be April 2011 subsequent to the horizontalapplication of the pinch-in gesture. In response to the production ofthe further scaled-out listing, the method causes 2270 the furtherscaled-out listing to be displayed on the display 118 of the device. Themethod may be performed, for example, by the display 118, the multipointtouch-sensitive module 225, the scaling module 235, the processor 205,and storage module 210, or any further components and modules describedherein.

Modules, Components, and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or ina transmission signal) or hardware modules. A hardware module istangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., aprocessor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware module thatoperates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module mayinclude dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner and/or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulesinclude a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, includeprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors or processor-implementedmodules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributedamong the one or more processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a singlelocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as aserver farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that that both hardware and software architectures requireconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem 2300 within which instructions, for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may beexecuted. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in thecapacity of a server or a client machine in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 2300 includes a processor 2302 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 2304 and a static memory 2306, which communicatewith each other via a bus 2308. The computer system 2300 may furtherinclude a video display unit 2310 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 2300 also includes analphanumeric input device 2312 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UT)navigation device 2314 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 2316, a signalgeneration device 2318 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device2320.

Machine-Readable Medium

The disk drive unit 2316 includes a machine-readable medium 2322 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures(e.g., software) 2324 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 2324 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory2304 and/or within the processor 2302 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 2300, the main memory 2304 and the processor 2302 alsoconstituting machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 2322 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductormemory devices, e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one processor, andmemory including instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the system to perform operations comprising: displayinga listing of items in an item data display area on a display of adevice, the listing of items including item data corresponding to eachrespective item in the listing of items, the item data display areasimultaneously including an image data region containing arepresentation of image data corresponding to the item data and ametadata region containing a representation of metadata corresponding tothe item data; receiving, in the metadata region, an indication of atouch on a touch-enabled screen of the device that indicates a selectionof a date facet of the item data displayed among multiple facets in themetadata region, the date facet denoting a temporal indicator, otherfacets of the multiple facets denoting non-temporal indicators;receiving an indication of a pinch gesture including a pinch-in gesturein the metadata region; scaling, responsive to the touch and the pinchgesture, the date facet to produce a scaled-facet listing, the scalingcomprising: modifying a degree of a characteristic of the date facet inan increasing amount responsive to the pinch-in gesture includingproducing a scaled-out listing implemented as an updated portion of theitem data having a later temporal indicator than an initial display ofthe item data by an amount proportional to a magnitude of a pinchgesture characteristic corresponding to the pinch-in gesture; anddisplaying the scaled-facet listing in the metadata region by exposingan updated set of the item data having the modified degree of thecharacteristic and replacing previous item data with the scaled-outlisting within the scaled-data display area.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the pinch gesture characteristic includes any one of a pinch-invelocity, a pinch-in magnitude, and a pinch-in orientation.
 3. A methodcomprising: displaying a listing of items in an item data display areaon a display of a device, the listing of items including item datacorresponding to each respective item in the listing of items, the itemdata display area simultaneously including an image data regioncontaining a representation of image data corresponding to the item dataand a metadata region containing a representation of metadatacorresponding to the item data; receiving, in the metadata region, anindication of a touch on a touch-enabled screen of the device thatindicates a selection of a date facet of the item data displayed amongmultiple facets in the metadata region, the date facet denoting atemporal indicator, other facets of the multiple facets denotingnon-temporal indicators; receiving an indication of a pinch gestureincluding a pinch-in gesture in the metadata region; scaling, responsiveto the touch and the pinch gesture, the date facet to produce ascaled-facet listing, the scaling comprising: modifying a degree of acharacteristic of the date facet in an increasing amount responsive tothe pinch-in gesture including producing a scaled-out listingimplemented as an updated portion of the item data having a latertemporal indicator than an initial display of the item data by an amountproportional to a magnitude of a pinch gesture characteristiccorresponding to the pinch-in gesture; and displaying the scaled-facetlisting in the metadata region by exposing an updated set of the itemdata having the modified degree of the characteristic and replacingprevious item data with the scaled-out listing within the scaled-datadisplay area.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the pinch gesturecharacteristic includes any one of a pinch-in velocity, a pinch-inmagnitude, and a pinch-in orientation.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe pinch gesture characteristic includes a velocity, a distance, and anangle.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the velocity, the distance, andthe angle of the pinch gesture characteristic correspond to a separationbetween a first touch point and a second touch point that decreases. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the scaled-facet listing is produced at arate corresponding to the pinch-in velocity.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the scaled-facet listing is produced at a rate indicated with aparticular pinch-in orientation.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein thescaled-facet listing is produced by an amount corresponding to thepinch-in magnitude.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the scaled-facetlisting is produced by an amount indicated with a particular pinch-inorientation.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein the scaled-facet listingis produced by an amount, indicated with a particular pinch-inorientation.
 12. One or more non-transitory hardware storage devicesembodying a set of instructions, that when executed by at least oneprocessor, causes the at least one processor to perform operationscomprising: displaying a listing of items in an item data display areaon a display of a device, the listing of items including item datacorresponding to each respective item in the listing of items, the itemdata display area simultaneously including an image data regioncontaining a representation of image data corresponding to the item dataand a metadata region containing a representation of metadatacorresponding to the item data; receiving, in the metadata region, anindication of a touch on a touch-enabled screen of the device thatindicates a selection of a date facet of the item data displayed amongmultiple facets in the metadata region, the date facet denoting atemporal indicator, other facets of the multiple facets denotingnon-temporal indicators; receiving an indication of a pinch gestureincluding a pinch-in gesture in the metadata region; scaling, responsiveto the touch and the pinch gesture, the date facet to produce ascaled-facet listing, the scaling comprising: modifying a degree of acharacteristic of the date facet in an increasing amount responsive tothe pinch-in gesture including producing a scaled-out listingimplemented as an updated portion of the item data having a latertemporal indicator than an initial display of the item data by an amountproportional to a magnitude of a pinch gesture characteristiccorresponding to the pinch-in gesture; and displaying the scaled-facetlisting in the metadata region by exposing an updated set of the itemdata having the modified degree of the characteristic and replacingprevious item data with the scaled-out listing within the scaled-datadisplay area.
 13. The one or more hardware storage devices of claim 12,wherein the pinch gesture characteristic includes any one of a pinch-invelocity, a pinch-in magnitude, and a pinch-in orientation.
 14. The oneor more hardware storage devices claim 13, wherein the pinch gesturecharacteristic includes a velocity, a distance, and an angle.
 15. Theone or more hardware storage devices claim 14, wherein the velocity, thedistance, and the angle of the pinch gesture characteristic correspondto a separation between a first touch point and a second touch pointthat decreases.
 16. The one or more hardware storage devices claim 15,wherein the scaled-facet listing is produced at a rate corresponding tothe pinch-in velocity.
 17. The one or more hardware storage devices ofclaim 16, wherein the scaled-facet listing is produced at a rateindicated with a particular pinch-in orientation.
 18. The one or morehardware storage devices of claim 15, wherein the sealed-facet listingis produced by an amount corresponding to the pinch-in magnitude. 19.The one or more hardware storage devices of claim 15, wherein thescaled-facet listing is produced by an amount, indicated with aparticular pinch-in orientation.
 20. The one or more hardware storagedevices of claim 12, wherein the displaying the scaled-facet listingincludes altering display of one but not both of the image data regionand the metadata region that are simultaneously exposed.